Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Originally Published in: 1986
Read in: March and April 2009
Howl's Moving Castle was my first read for the Once Upon a Time III Challenge. I have been wanting to read this book ever since I first saw the movie version by Miyazaki, which I regard as one of my favorite movies of all time. Of course, the book was written years before the movie and I wanted to see how the two differ. I found that they differ quite a bit!
Sophie, the main character, lives in the kingdom of Ingary, where magic is commonplace. Her two sisters are sent away when their father dies and Sophie is left to work in a hat shop along with her stepmother. After a brief encounter with the wizard Howl (although Sophie doesn't know it is Howl at the time), Sophie meets the Witch of the Waste who places her under a spell that makes her 90 years old (note that she also can not tell anybody about the spell.) From here, she decides to make a life of her own and ends locating Howl's castle, which is a huge oddly shaped building that moves all over the place and has a magic door that opens to different locations in Ingary. Sophie moves in under the guise of "new cleaning lady."
Sophie meets Calcifer, a fire demon who moves the castle and has a spell cast on him, as well as Howl's apprentice, Michael (Markl in the movie) who falls in love with one of Sophie's sisters. The main demon of the story, both for Howl and Sophie is the Witch of the Waste. When Sophie falls prey to her, it's up to Howl to save the day. Basically it's a coming of age story for multiple characters, with a magical twist.
I thought the book was great. I love Ingary and found most of the characters believable, even in a world of magic. I'm glad I watched the movie first because the two differ so much (Miyazaki must have used a lot of creative license) and I rather like an alternate way of going about things. I might get around to reading the sequels eventually. Diana Wynne Jones seems to be a great writer.
5 comments:
She is great! I love her to bits. I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
Aaaand there are still two more books that follow this one. Castle in the Air and The House of Many Ways. I loved this book to. And the movie! :)
I HAVE to read this book! I've seen reviews for the last two years of Carl's challenge and still haven't gotten around to it. Recently, I've been reading Megan Whalen Turner's series The Queen's Thief, and Turner lists Diana Wynne Jones and Howl's Moving Castle as among her very favorite fantasy.
I hope to read the other books eventually Masha! They sound wonderful! jenclair, if you enjoy fantasy, this book is a must and I highly encourage you to read it! Nymeth, I'm glad you enjoyed the book also! Best of luck to you all on the rest of the challenge!
I should read this. I loved the film version they made of it. I've heard so many wonderful things about Wynne Jones and the only book I've read of hers was not the best. I imagine I would really enjoy this one.
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